Silver Linings Playbook
by LadyBell91
Summary: This is my contribution to cs movie month on tumblr. It is inspired by Silver Linings Playbook, with all the movie characters replaced by our beloved characters from Once Upon a Time.
1. Coming Home

_Ok so this is my contribution to CS movie month on tumblr. It is a fic inspired on Silver Linings Playbook with all the movie characters replaced by our beloved characters from Once Upon a Time._

_I came up with this idea after watching the movie, and I thought that especially Killian and Emma fitted perfectly in this story. Anyways, I hope you like it, I would love to hear your thoughts on it and if you have any questions, ask away :)_

**Silverlinings playbook – part one: Coming Home.**

"What, are you kidding me? Sundays? I love Sundays, I live for Sundays. The whole family is together. Mom makes lasagna. Dad puts the jersey on. We're all watching the game." Killian was standing in front of the window, looking outside. He was practising the speech he was going to give to Milah when he would see her again. "Yeah, it drives me crazy, and yes, I was negative. You didn't even know that I loved it, Milah, but I did. I just didn't appreciate it, or you, before."

There was a knock on the door, but Killian chose to ignore it.

"I lost all that. I blew it. And you also blew it, you know. But we can get it back, we're going to get it back. It's all going be better now. I'm better now and I hope you are, too. And I'm going to appreciate-"

"Killian, it's time to go." The doctor on the other side of the door said.

Killian sighed. "I'm going to appreciate you more, and I'm going to forgive you for everything that happened. And I hope you do to, because that's true love."

He turned away from the window and grabbed the suitcase of his bed, he looked around the room that had been his home for the past eight months for one last time. When he opened the door, he was greeted by the sight of his mother arguing with the doctor.

"Yes, Lucinda. Technically, you can take him out against our recommendation, but you assume a lot of liability in the eyes of the court." The doctor said to his mother. "Besides, he's just getting used to the routine here."

"I don't want him to get used to the routine here, Dr. Whale." His mother interrupted the doctor, ignoring his feeble attempt at trying to get her to leave her son at the hospital. "Eight months is already enough." She walked over to her son and hugged him tightly. When she pulled back she cupped his face with her hands and looked at him with a loving smile on her face, her eyes slightly watery. "Let's go home, Killian."

When they got to the parking lot, Killian looked back at the hospital one last time, glad that he was finally going home. He got in the passenger seat of the car and smiled at his mother. "Thanks for getting me out, mom." She didn't say anything, but instead just smiled back.

Lucinda started the car and drove towards the exit, but suddenly she had to slam on the breaks as a young man wearing a very strange hat and carrying a suitcase stepped in front of the car.

"Hey Mom?" Killian suddenly asked. "Can we give Jefferson a ride to North Philly?"

Lucinda looked at her son with doubt in her eyes. "What, Why? I don't understand."

"No, no it's ok." Killian quickly explained. "It will be fine, he is a buddy of mine."

Lucinda looked at her son, contemplating what to do, but the innocent look he gave her, won her over, like it always did. "Oh, alright then."

Killian flashed her a bright smile and waved Jefferson over. The young man smiled widely and got in the back of the car.

"I guess everybody's leaving today!" He said enthusiastically, when Lucinda started the car. "Hello Mrs J. An honour to finally meet you. Killian told me all about you, how God made you rich in character, and you're the mighty oak that holds the household together, and not to mention the lasagne you make on Game day when the Birds play."

Lucinda looked at Jefferson in her rear-view mirror with her mouth hanging slightly agape.

"Jeff was in for assault because of crystal meth and alcohol" Killian explained to his mother.

"Bad combination." Jefferson said with a serious expression.

Killian smirked at his friend. "Yeah, especially on top of an anxiety disorder and ADD."

Jefferson nodded his head in confirmation. "That was when I was an X-ray technician, I had a lot of access to medication and I took advantage of it. But that went down the rabbit hole quickly you could say, because I started hallucinating, thinking one of my hats was magical and could create portals."

Killian turned to his mother. "He is obsessed with Hats."

"I just really like Hats." Jefferson said, looking insecure. "I think they are classy, and my little girl says they look good on me."

"Well, I must say, I like the one you are wearing now." Killian said, trying to cheer up his friend.

"Really?"

"Yeah, it looks good on you, makes you look dandy." He added with a wink, when he turned back around he noticed that his mom had turned the car. "You are going the wrong way!"

But his mother didn't hear him, as she was talking on the phone. "What, are you sure about that? O dear, I'll bring him back right away." She hung up and turned at Killian to look at him with a disappointed look. "You lied to me Killian. Jefferson wasn't allowed to leave the hospital at all."

"Alright mom, just let me explain." Killian started.

"No, Killian, you lied to me. I just…" Her voice started quivering. "I Just think this whole thing might have been a mistake."

"I'm sorry, mom, are you okay?"

"I'm just really out on a limb with the courts here for you Killian, you now that?" Lucinda said with desperation, her hands gripping the steering wheel.

hey look, it's my fault." Jefferson started, trying to help his friend. "Killian didn't know that I wasn't allowed to leave. I just having a disagreement with the hospital, because they won't let me see my daughter. But please take Killian home, he's fine. Trust me, You'll see he's fine. It's all my fault."

Lucinda was silent for a while, took a deep breath and looked back up at her son. "Fine, okay. I'll give you a chance Killian." He looked relieved at her words.

"But you, young man," she said turning to Jefferson. "Are going straight back to the hospital."

After they dropped Jefferson off back at the hospital, they drove home in silence. Seeing his parental house for the first time in eight months, made Killian feel nervous all of a sudden. He was not sure how his dad was going to react to the news that he was going to live with them again. But he didn't have any choice, Milah still had that restraining order against him, so he couldn't go back to his own home. Not until she withdrew it, and before that could happen, Killian had to find a way to get her to talk to him.

He got out of the car and walked up the steps leading to the front door, but before he got a chance to open the door, his mother hold him back.

"Killian listen," his mother started. "Don't say anything, but your dad lost his job and he's bookmaking"

"What?" he asked. "But why? How-"

But Lucinda interrupted him. "Just, don't say anything about it, okay. Not yet."

When he saw the pleading look she was giving him, he just shrugged his shoulders and dropped the subject. "Yeah, okay."

He opened the front door and stepped inside. He took a look around, and the first thing he noticed was that they took his picture down. There was now only a picture of his brother, August, on the wall. _Why would they do that, _he thought, he had to admit that it hurt a little. He decided to ask his dad about it later that night. Speaking of his dad, where was he? Killian walked towards the kitchen, when he suddenly heard voices coming from the living room.

"What are you doing? No, no. no, no.." He heard his father say. "Don't touch them, don't touch them!" Killian wanted to enter the living room, but lingered in the doorframe. He saw his father rearranging the remote controls on the coffee table. Marco Jones had a mild form of OCD when it came to the placement of certain objects. If they weren't in the right place, he thought it would bring bad luck on game day.

"I didn't even touch them. Why are you-, don't blame me." the other man in the room said.

But Marco ignored his excuses. "Who did this? Who took, who took the… the remotes like this." He turned towards the man, an accusing look on his face. "Did you do this, Gold?"

"No! I didn't touch them, as a matter of fact. I don't even know why you would even need so many." The man, Gold, turned around and was the first to notice Killian and Lucinda standing in the doorframe.

"Hey, there she is! Look how beautiful!" He walked over to Lucinda and took her left hand is his, and placed a kiss on it. Lucinda just rolled her eyes, and pulled her hand back. Killian just nodded his head. "Hello, Gold."

"what's this?" Marco asked stunned, when he saw his son in the doorframe, he walked up to him and patted him awkwardly on his shoulder "Are you good?"

"Mhm." Killian nodded, unsure of what to say. Marco was silent for a while, but then gave him a tight hug. when he released his son he turned towards his wife. "So, what's this? You don't talk to me anymore? You didn't think of telling me you were going to take him out?"

This caught Killian off guard, why didn't his mother tell his father that he was coming home?

"You didn't tell dad you were picking me up?" He asked incredulously.

"Don't worry about that." Lucinda said, trying to reassure her son before turning to her husband. "Marco, he was ready. Look at him."

Marco examined his son, looking him over thoroughly while holding him tight by the shoulders. "I just want to make sure, that when you come out, that you're okay. Was the doctor okay with this?"

"The court said yes, don't worry." Lucinda interjected.

"Yeah, but what did the doctor say? Because the court listens to the doctor, don't they?"

"Dad, relax. The court said it's fine, okay? Let it go." Killian tried to reassure his father, but Marco still didn't look convinced.

"Look, dad, I was there because of the court. That's the agreement that we made months ago. It was a plea bargain with the courts. The lawyer, he instructed me, he said that we should plead that, and then I would serve eight months and then I'd get out."

"Yeah, I know that. I just.." Marco started, but Killian could see that his father was beginning to relax.

Lucinda put a reassuring hand on Marco's arm. "It's all under control."

Marco contemplated this for a while, but then patted his son on the shoulders once more. "Well, okay.. Congratulations, and welcome home."

"Thank you." Killian was relieved that his father accepted him home and let out a sigh of relief. "So what are you doing with yourself."

At this question Marco brightened immediately. "I'm planning on opening a restaurant, or a diner actually."

Killian was confused, hadn't his father just lost his job? "How are you going to pay for it?"

But Marco just waved off the concern in his son's voice "I'm going to pay for it, don't worry about it."

Suddenly it clicked for Killian. "Are you going to pay for it from your bookmaking?" He asked, the accusation clear. He knew that his father had had a gambling problem in the past.

Marco froze on the spot. "How do you know about that?"

"Mom told me," Killian stated. "When we were outside."

"I did not. No, I didn't" she lied, shaking her head furiously, desperately trying to shut Killian up. Obviously it wasn't working.

"But you just told me outside, Mom, what are you talking about? Five minutes ago, we were walking up the stairs, you said, '_Don't say anything, but Dad lost his job and he's bookmaking'_."

"Why, Lucinda?" Marco said, slightly panicked. "Why did you say that to him? Now he has the wrong idea." He turned to his son. "Everything's fine Killian. I'm more concerned about you than anything else."

This seemed to reassure Killian a bit. "Good, dad. Good." He said, hugging his father once more.

When he released him, Marco looked at him with a smile. "Good, the question, the big question is, what are you going to do with yourself?"

"What am I going to do?" Killian asked. "I'm getting in shape, I'm getting trim, I'm getting really fit for Milah. I'm going to read Milah's complete teaching syllabus and get my old job back."

Marco couldn't bear to see the hope in his son's eyes, when he knew that the chances of Milah reconciling with Killian were really slim. "Milah sold the house, she left. Didn't your mother tell you that?"

"Let me tell you something." Killian said, shaking his head stubbornly. "You don't know anything about my marriage, okay, Dad? All right? Our marriage… we're very, very much in love, okay? Just like you two." He added, pointing towards his parents.

"Listen, Killian." Marco interjected. "She's gone. She's not around anymore. Milah left."

"W- What are you doing, dad." Killian felt the rage bubbling up inside him, why didn't his father give him some credit? He knew he had to calm down, before he did something stupid. So he took a couple of deep breaths and threw his hands in the air. "You know what? Excelsior. Ex-cel-sior, dad."

Marco looked at his son with his eyebrows raised. "What does that mean."

"Excelsior. You know what that means, what I'm going to do? I'm going to take all this negativity and use it as fuel and I'm going to find a silver lining, that's what I'm going to do. And that's no bullshit. That takes work and that's the truth." And with that he turned around and disappeared upstairs, leaving his confused father behind. Marco exchanged a look with Lucinda, but she just gave him a tight smile. "Just give him some time, Marco. It's all going to be fine."


	2. New beginnings

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, all rights belong to their respective owners (and in this case that means they belong to Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz)**

* * *

**Silver Linings Playbook – part two: New beginnings**

Killian decided to immediately start reading one of the books that were on Milah's teaching syllabus. It was a modern retelling of the Snow White story, and he had to admit it had a very intriguing narrative. He read throughout the day, barely noticing his mother when she came into his room to place a tray of food on his bed.

It was nearly four 'o clock in the morning when he read the final page. He closed the book and stared ahead for a while, an incredulous look on his face. "What the bloody hell?!" He yelled, throwing the book out of the window. "Stupid fucking book!"

He got of his bed and stormed down the stairs towards his parents' room where he just started pacing.

"I just can't believe Milah is teaching that book to the kids. I mean the whole time - let me just break it down for you - the whole time you're rooting for this Snow White to get her happy ending and to be with the man she loves, this Prince Charming…"

While Killian is ranting, his tired parents look at him from their bed, their mouths slightly agape.

"Killian, it's four o'clock in the morning.." Lucinda starts, but Killian just ignores her.

"...and she does. She marries Prince Charming, after he woke her with a true loves kiss from a sleeping curse, and together they take back the kingdom. But now Snow's pregnant. Isn't that wonderful? She's pregnant. They are crowned king and queen and they're going to be happy, and they're going to be a family, and throw balls - they both like to dance with each other, there's scenes of them dancing, which was boring, but I liked it, because they were happy. But do you think the writers end it there? No! They write another ending. The Evil Queen takes revenge and cast a dark curse. Snow White and Charming are cursed, Dad! They are sent to a land without magic, a land without happy endings. They have to shove their new born baby into a bloody wardrobe to save her, because she supposedly is the saviour. But do we get to know if she saves them? No, because it ends with Snow White holding a dying Prince Charming in her arms, while the Dark curse is tearing their world apart. What the hell happened to 'and they all lived happily ever after'? I mean, the world's hard enough as it is, guys. It's bloody hard enough as it is. Can't somebody say, 'Hey, let's be positive? Let's have a good ending to the story?'"

"Killian, I think you owe us an apology." Lucinda gingerly speaks up, after Killian ends his rant.

"Mom, for what? I can't apologize." Killian says, throwing his hands in the air. I'm not going to apologize for this. You know what I will do? I will apologize on behalf of Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis, because they are the ones to blame here."

With that he turns around and walks to the door, closing it behind him.

" Yeah, have Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis call us and apologize to us, too." Marco calls after his son, shaking his head in disbelief.

~ SLP ~

the next morning Killian had his first appointment with the court assigned therapist. When he entered the female receptionist pushed a Sign-in sheet towards him. While Killian was signing the sheet he noticed that there was music playing. Usually he wouldn't pay attention to it, but this time it triggered something in him. It wasn't so much the music that was playing, but it was the song. Killian was sure that he heard the lyrics to 'Cherie Amour'.

_Really? _Killian thought, his hands started to shake. "Is that song really playing?" He asked, turning to the receptionist.

"We do have music sometimes." she answered, eying him wearily.

"Well, that song is killing me." Pat said, his voice shaking. "Could you please turn it of?"

"I don't have the controls. I'm sorry, I…"

"Did doctor Whale put you up to this?" Killian interrupted her, his voice rising. "Is there a speaker here?" He walked up to a magazine rack, and turned it over, sending the magazines flying across the waiting room. "Is.. Is the speaker here?" The music seemed to become louder and louder, and he started seeing red. And then all of a sudden the noise died away. Killian turned around and noticed that everybody was looking him, they were dead silent and looked almost frightened. A male therapist opened his office door and looked around. Killian was still shaking, but knew that he had to calm down before he made even more of a scene. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, okay…" He started picking up the magazines, feeling embarrassed by his outburst. "I-I'll fix all this okay?"

After he placed back the last magazines he entered Dr. Hopper's office and took a seat.

"That was a messed up thing you did, doctor Hopper." Killian started after an awkward silence in which the therapist just sat there looking at him. "I'm sorry, but that's.."

"Please, you can call me Archie." doctor Hopper interrupted Killian.

This baffled Killian a bit, he never called doctors by their first name. Wasn't it a bit early to be on a first name basis? "Yeah, well, Archie, that's not the way you're supposed to meet people, okay? Why don't you write that down in your, I don't know, your little book you write stuff down in." He said gesturing to the notepad on the doctor's lap.

"I'm sorry about that song. I just wanted to see if it was still a trigger for you."

Killian gaped at the doctor, _is this guy being serious? _"Well, bravo. It's a trigger. Oh and I should probably tell you right now, that I'm not going to take any meds."

"You have to take medicine, Killian."

"No." Killian said, stubbornly shaking his head. "I'm not going to take any medicine. It makes me foggy-"

"Killian, you have to take medication." the doctor interrupted him, trying to reason with him.

"I don't want any meds, doctor." Killian nearly shouted, he started to feel that rage build in him again at the persistence of the doctor. "Look, I'm not the explosion guy, okay?" He took a deep breath before he continued. "My father is the explosion guy, not me. He got kicked out of that stadium, because he beat up so many people at the Eagles games. He's even on the exclusion list. But I only had one incident."

"One incident can change a lifetime."

Killian silently looked at the doctor for a moment, wondering how that guy could be so calm. Seriously, how did he do that? He shook his head, he needed to make clear that he was ready, that he was better.  
"But I'm ready. I'm ready to take responsibility for my side of the street. She just needs to take responsibility for hers."

"What exactly is hers?" Doctor Hopper asked raising his eyebrows.

"what's hers?" Killian asked incredulously. "Are you joking?" But it was clear that doctor Hopper wasn't, as he kept looking at Killian with a sincere expression . "Well let's go back to the incident, shall we." he took a deep breath and prepared to flashback to that faithful day.

" I left work early - which I never do, by the way, but I got in a fight with Regina, the high school

principal. I came home and you know what was playing? The song from my wedding, the song that you so charmingly played out here today for us." He added, pointing his finger accusingly at doctor Hopper. "That song was playing and I didn't think anything of it. Which is odd, 'cause I should have. I walked in and I saw underwear and pieces of clothing and a guy's pants with his belt in it, and then I walked up the stairs, and all of a sudden I saw the DVD player, and in the DVD player was the CD and it was playing our wedding song, and then I looked down and I saw my wife's panties on the ground. When I looked back up I saw her naked in the shower and I thought, _Oh, that's sweet, she's in the shower. What a perfect thing. Maybe I'll go in there too_ . It had been a while since we made love in the shower, you know. So I thought that maybe I would get lucky that day. So I pull the shower curtain back and there's the bloody history teacher, Peter Malcolm." He spit out the name like it was some kind of poison. "And you know what he says to me? _'You should probably go.'_ That's what he says to me." Killian had to pause for a bit, reliving these memories was hard on him. He had to take a couple of deep breaths before he could continue.

"So yeah, I snapped. I almost beat him to death. But now I get fucking chastised for it? I'm parallel to my father? I don't think so."

"All right." Doctor Hopper said, when he noticed that Killian was finished. "Can you talk to me about something that you did, before or after that?"

Killian knew exactly what the doctor was hinting at. "Yeah, about a week before the incident I called the cops and told them that my wife and the history guy were plotting against me by embezzling money from the local High school. Which of course wasn't true.. It was a delusion." Killian admitted reluctantly, still feeling embarrassed by it. "We later found out from the hospital that it's because I'm…"

"…undiagnosed bipolar." Doctor Hopper finished for him.

"Yeah." Killian said. "With mood swings and weird thinking brought on my severe stress, which rarely happens, thank god. But then the shower incident happened and that's when everything snapped. That was the moment that I realized that I've been dealing with this my whole life. And without any supervision, I've been doing it all on my own with no help and basically I've been white-knuckling it this whole time."

"That had to be hard, right?"

"It's a lot to deal with." Killian admitted. "Especially when you don't know what the hell is happening. Which I do now, sort of."

~ SLP ~

When he came home from the doctor's office, Killian felt like he needed to take a run, so that he could clear his mind. Reliving the memories had taken quite a toll on him. HE changed into his running gear and called out to his mother that he was going for a run.

He always took the same route, but today he subconsciously went another way. He didn't even notice it until he was standing right in front of the high school he used to work at. He looked to his right and saw the high school principal, Regina Mills, getting out of his car. Killian felt like this was his lucky day, that this could be his chance to get his job back, which would be the first step in mending his relationship with Milah.

"Ms. Mills!" He called out to the principal, running towards her.

When she noticed him she hurried towards the school entrance, in an attempt to avoid him. "Oh god, oh god.." she muttered under her breath.

"Regina! It's my lucky day!" Killian said with a wide smile, oblivious to the fact that she was trying to avoid him. "How are you?"

Regina was scrambling to get the doors of the school unlocked, which was quite tricky as she had her arms full of documents. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came by to say hi, to let you know that I'm ready to come back to work."

"you shouldn't be here." Regina said, still trying frantically to open the doors to the school.

But Killian didn't seem to notice her attempts at shaking him as he rattled on. "…I'll work full time, half time, I'll sub, I'll work history, whatever you want." He walked up the stairs and stretched out his hand to help the struggling principal. "Here let me give you a hand. I'm sorry, I'm being rude. Hey, let me just ask you something. Does Milah still work here?"

"You now I can't tell you that." Regina responded, finally managing to open the door. "But Peter Malcolm is still here."

Killians face fell upon hearing that name, it rendered him speechless for a second. "Why would you tell me that? You know he broke up my marriage. What, are you being a troublemaker?"

Killian felt he was losing control again, and Regina seemed to sense it to, so she quickly tried to change the topic of conversation.  
"You know, you look good. Did you lose a lot of weight?"

"I did, yeah. I did." Killian's mood changed instantly and his face lit up at the compliment. "Thank you." He tried to embrace Regina, but she started screaming in panic.

"Get away from me! Get away!"

"But I'm better." Killian said in defeat, as she fled into the schools hallway. "I'm better now, okay? I'm better. I feel good, I feel so good. Look at my eyes, look at how clear they are. I'm not a complainer anymore, I'm a positive guy now."

"You just have to give it some time, Killian" Regina said. "A lot went down. But people will get over it, It'll work out."

"Yes! It will be!" Killian said triumphantly. "I'm going to take that as a silver development, Regina! A silver development! That's a silver lining!" And with that he ran off again, feeling like his day couldn't get any better.

Regina looked after him, slightly nodding her head. "Good luck."

~ SLP ~

After the talk with his former boss, Killian was feeling great. He thought that went better than expected and he was sure that he would get his job back in no time. And then he would get Milah back. He rounded the corner to a familiar street and immediately saw a familiar figure unloading groceries from a parked car.

"David!" He called out, running towards him.

The man, David, looked up upon hearing his name and smiled brightly when he saw who it was that had called him. "There he is! He's back!"

David gathered Killian in a bear hug, patting him on the back. "Welcome back, mate."

"Yeah, I'm out."

"Yeah? You're out?" David asked, clapping Killian on the shoulders again when he nodded. "Cool, man. Wow, you lost a lot of weight. I almost didn't recognize you."

"Thank mate." Killian replied proudly.

"I'm sorry I didn't visit you in the hospital." David said looking guilty. "But you know, it was just… Work's out of control, and Mary Margaret had the baby. But I'm really glad you're back! I missed you man, I missed someone to talk to." HE turned around to unload the last of the groceries. "You really need to come see the baby, he's beautiful. And Mary Margaret wants to make dinner for you."

"Congratulations on the baby," Killian said. "But I'm not buying the invitation."

"Because you think Mary Margaret still hates you?" David guessed, knowing his friend very well.

"I know Mary Margaret still hates me."

"But that is where you're wrong. If she still hates you, then why would she ask me to invite you to dinner?"

At that Killian didn't have an answer. Upstairs David's house he saw a window opening and Mary Margaret came leaning out. "David! What are you doing?" But then she saw who David was talking to. "Did you invite him?" she yelled.

"Yes!" David yelled back.

"Well, can he make it?"

David rolled his eyes at his wife's impatience. "I don't know yet!" he turned to Killian. "Can you make it next Sunday?"

Killian shrugged his shoulders. "Sure."

"Great, then I'll see you next Sunday." David leaned down to pick up a box of diapers when Killian grabbed his arm. "You.. you guys are still in touch with Milah right? Does Mary Margaret still talk to Milah?"

David looked at his friend with a tinge of worry, not quite sure what to answer to this. "yeah.."

That was enough for Killian to make him smile brightly. They were still talking to Milah so maybe she had said something about wanting to see him again, surely that must be the reason why they had invited him over for dinner. Things were really looking up again.

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** Well that's it for another chapter of silver linings playbook. I must say I really enjoy writing this one (partly because it's an excuse for me to watch Silver Linings Playbook again) I really hope you guys liked it too, and as always I'd love to hear your thoughts on it, so feel free to leave a review :)**

**Next chapter Emma Swan will finally make her entrance! I'm also really looking forward to writing the 'first date' scene, although I am not sure yet if it will be in the next the chapter or the one after that.**

**anyways, stay tuned and until next time!**

**Oh and P.S. if you have any questions feel free to contact me here or on tumblr (dutchtinkerbell) :)**


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